Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The eleven tribes choose and anoint David as their king in Hebron. Then, verse 6, David, having slain the Jebusites, seizes the citadel of Zion, in which Hiram has a house built for David; where David, verse 13, multiplies wives and sons. Finally, verse 18, he defeats the Philistines a first time, and a second time, verse 23, with God giving David a sign: the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees.
Vulgate Text: 2 Kings 5:1-25
1. And all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, saying: Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. 2. Moreover yesterday and the day before, when Saul was king over us, you were leading out and bringing back Israel; and the Lord said to you: You shall feed My people Israel, and you shall be ruler over Israel. 3. The elders of Israel also came to the king in Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David king over Israel. 4. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah. 6. And the king went, and all the men who were with him, to Jerusalem against the Jebusite, the inhabitant of the land, and it was said to David by them: You shall not come in here, unless you take away the blind and the lame, saying: David shall not come in here. 7. But David took the citadel of Zion; this is the city of David. 8. For David had proposed on that day a reward for whoever would strike the Jebusite and touch the waterspouts of the roofs, and take away the blind and the lame who hated David's soul; therefore it is said as a proverb: The blind and the lame shall not enter the temple. 9. And David dwelt in the citadel, and called it the city of David; and he built round about from Millo and inward. 10. And he went on, progressing and increasing, and the Lord God of hosts was with him. 11. And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar wood, and carpenters and masons of walls; and they built a house for David. 12. And David knew that the Lord had confirmed him king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom over His people Israel. 13. And David took concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron; and there were born to David also other sons and daughters. 14. And these are the names of those born to him in Jerusalem: Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, 15. and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia, 16. and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet. 17. And the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, and they all went up to seek David; when David heard this, he went down to the stronghold. 18. And the Philistines came and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. 19. And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand? And the Lord said to David: Go up, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hand. 20. And David came to Baal-perazim, and struck them there, and said: The Lord has divided my enemies before me, as waters are divided. Therefore the name of that place was called Baal-perazim. 21. And they left their graven images there, which David took, and his men. 22. And the Philistines came up again, and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. 23. And David consulted the Lord, and He said: You shall not go up against them; go around behind them, and come upon them opposite the balsam trees. 24. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall begin battle; because then the Lord will go out before your face, to strike the camp of the Philistines. 25. And David did as the Lord had commanded him, and he struck the Philistines from Gibeah until you come to Gezer.
Verse 1: All the Tribes of Israel Came to David
1. AND ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL CAME TO DAVID IN HEBRON, to make him their king by the common consent of all. See 1 Chronicles 12:23 and following, where the arrival and order of the tribes is described at length.
SAYING: BEHOLD, WE ARE YOUR BONE AND YOUR FLESH, that is, we are your kinsmen, so the Chaldean: for lest anyone think that David was related by blood only to the tribe of Judah, from which he descended, and therefore that he was king only of the tribe of Judah, for this reason the other eleven tribes here assert that David is also their kinsman; for all the tribes were related by blood, since they descended from the twelve brothers, the Patriarchs, sons of Jacob. This is therefore the first reason why they chose David as their king, that he was born from them and joined to them by blood: the second reason follows.
Verse 2: You Were Leading Out and Bringing Back Israel
2. MOREOVER YESTERDAY AND THE DAY BEFORE, WHEN SAUL WAS KING OVER US, YOU WERE LEADING OUT AND BRINGING BACK ISRAEL, that is, You under King Saul governed the people more than Saul did, and always fought successfully for them; it is therefore fitting that with Saul dead, you continue to rule us as king. The third reason follows, drawn from God's decree and oracle about David's kingdom, issued through Samuel.
AND THE LORD SAID TO YOU: YOU SHALL FEED MY PEOPLE ISRAEL. "Feed," that is, rule; for this is the Hebrew word tire and the Greek equivalent. Whence let kings know that they ought to rule by feeding the people, in the way that a shepherd feeds his sheep; accordingly Homer calls King Agamemnon poimena laon, that is, shepherd of the peoples.
Verse 3: David Made a Covenant in Hebron
3. KING DAVID MADE A COVENANT WITH THEM IN HEBRON BEFORE THE LORD, that is, before the whole assembly and congregation of the faithful people, that is, of the twelve tribes, over which God presided; for the ark of God was not in Hebron; therefore this covenant could not be ratified before it. This "covenant" was a mutual promise, by which David promised to faithfully administer the kingdom of Israel according to the laws established by God in Deuteronomy 17:16 and following. The Israelites in turn promised to be obedient and faithful to him.
AND THEY ANOINTED DAVID KING OVER ISRAEL. David was anointed king of Israel three times: first, secretly in his father's house by Samuel; second, publicly by the tribe of Judah alone and entire; third, here by all the tribes. David was a type of Christ, who was likewise anointed in three ways: first, by the grace of the personal union, on account of which He obtained right over all God's elect, as their prince and head; second, by the grace of redemption in death: on account of which "God exalted Him and gave Him a name which is above every name," and He actually began to reign over the fathers, whom He led out from the subterranean places, and His few Apostles and disciples; third, by the grace of supreme triumph: When "all power was given to Him in heaven and on earth," and with the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, all nations served Him; and that prophecy is fulfilled daily according to Psalm 2: "Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance and the ends of the earth as Your possession." Moreover He was king by a threefold right: first, as God: "King of kings and Lord of lords;" second, as man, son and successor of King David, whence Nathanael, John chapter 1, verse 49: "Rabbi, You are the King of Israel;" and the crowds were about to come, John chapter 6, verse 15: "to seize Him and make Him king;" who did not know His divinity: and the same crowds as He entered Jerusalem cried out, John chapter 12, verse 13: "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel;" third, as the God-Man, from which He said, Matthew chapter 28: "All power has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." So our author, Salianus in the Annals, year of Solomon 2, number 98.
Verse 4: David Was Thirty Years Old
4. DAVID WAS THIRTY YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGAN TO REIGN. "Son of thirty years," that is, a man of thirty years. It is a Hebraism, which I explained in book I, chapter 11, verse 1. From this it is clear that David was younger than Jonathan, who was forty years old and more, as I showed in chapter 2, verse 10. It is therefore surprising that some think David was older than Jonathan, whom St. Ambrose favors, book I of Offices, chapter 32, saying: "David, although he was more prudent, nevertheless yielded to the counsels of the younger Jonathan."
Allegorically, David here as in all other things was a type of Christ; hear Angelomus: "That David began to reign at thirty years of age prefigured that our Lord came to baptism at thirty years of age, and began to preach the Gospel of the kingdom; whose kingdom is everlasting, and His power shall not be given to another. For the number forty, which consists of four times ten, signifies the fullness of times and the perfection of things." The kingdom of David, which lasted forty years, represented this.
AND HE REIGNED FORTY YEARS, with seven months added; for he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, then for thirty-three years over all Israel; unless you say these thirty-three years were not complete, and six months were lacking; for thus he reigned precisely forty years, and died in the seventieth year of his age. The Hebrews cited by St. Jerome in the Traditions say David reigned forty years and six months; but these months are not counted, because David fled from Absalom for six months, or was suffering from illness. More plainly you may say that Scripture often records round numbers, and omits fractions or small remainders of numbers.
Verse 6: David Marches on Jerusalem
6. AND THE KING WENT, AND ALL THE MEN WHO WERE WITH HIM, TO JERUSALEM, to transfer the seat of the kingdom from Hebron to Jerusalem, and to make it the capital of the kingdom and the synagogue. See what I said about Jerusalem in Judges chapter 1 and elsewhere.
YOU SHALL NOT COME IN HERE, UNLESS YOU TAKE AWAY THE BLIND AND THE LAME, SAYING: DAVID SHALL NOT COME IN HERE. You ask, who were these blind and lame? First, some think they were images and statues of blind and lame men set up on the walls, so that through them the Jebusites signified that the citadel of Zion was so lofty and fortified that it could be defended by those statues alone, without their doing anything. Second, Aben-Ezra, R. Solomon, and the other Rabbis think they were two images of two Patriarchs, one of the blind Isaac, the other of the lame Jacob, so that through them the Israelites might be reminded of the covenant that Abimelech, their ancestor, had made with Isaac and Jacob, Genesis 26, and therefore would refrain from war and invasion of their citadel in Zion. Third, Burgensis thinks they were idols, which the Jebusites placed on the walls as tutelary gods. Fourth, the Chaldean takes the blind and lame not as physical but as spiritual: those namely who were blind and lame in mind; whence he translates, sinners and guilty ones. Fifth and genuinely, real and properly so-called blind and lame are understood here; for the Jebusites placed such soldiers, whose eyes had been gouged out in battle and whose legs had been broken, on the walls and highest towers of the citadel of Zion, trusting in the fortification of the place, as a sarcasm and hostile mockery of David, as if to say: In vain do you attempt, O David, to attack our citadel, which is so fortified by the nature of the place that it can be defended by the blind and lame alone whom you see in it. Come then, if you have the courage to attack the citadel, fly up to its walls and take away the blind and lame from them, and so enter and occupy the citadel; but know that after the blind and lame, you will meet us, who have eyes and strong feet and hands, and we will hurl you and yours from the walls. So Josephus, book VII of Antiquities, chapter 2; Procopius, Theodoret, Angelomus, Abulensis, Serarius, and others. Thus the Tyrians, says Lyranus, placed pygmies on the most fortified walls of Tyre, as if they alone sufficed to defend them. Ezekiel 27:11. See what was said there.
The Hebrews cited by St. Jerome in the Traditions add, along with the Glossa, that the Jebusites had been called blind and lame by David, that is, weak and unarmed, and therefore they hurled this insult back at David through sarcasm, and threw their own blind and lame at him, as if to say: We placed blind and lame defenders on our walls, because you call us blind and lame; come then, try whether we are such, and fight with these blind and lame, and you will see that not we, but your soldiers will become lame and blind; this is a military taunt. Others add that the Jebusites called the Hebrews blind and lame. For thus Manetho, Lysimachus, and others cited by Josephus in book I Against Apion, reproach Moses and the Hebrews as having been expelled by the king because of leprosy, scabies, and other diseases. Therefore Moses led eighty thousand lepers, maimed, and mutilated people, for example the blind and lame, out of Egypt. The Jebusites therefore hurled this taunt at the Hebrews, as if to say: You, Hebrews, with your Moses are lepers, maimed, blind, and lame, and therefore expelled by the Egyptians; do you therefore wish to occupy our citadel of Zion? Surely you will find us stronger than the Egyptians, who will easily drive you away from here as blind and lame. They therefore insulted David, as if to say: You with your blind and lame Hebrews shall not enter here: be gone then, and go back to your Egyptians.
Verse 7: David Took the Citadel of Zion
7. BUT DAVID TOOK THE CITADEL OF ZION. Note: David did not lose heart at the insults of the Jebusites; rather he was emboldened, and by proposing great rewards he incited his soldiers to invade the citadel of Zion, who, enticed by the promises, courageously ascended into the citadel, occupied it, and dislodged the blind and lame placed there by the Jebusites. Moreover, David in the first year of his reign over all Israel, which was the thirty-eighth year of his life, captured Zion and Jerusalem, and transferred the seat of the kingdom from Hebron to it, and reigned there for thirty-three years, as stated in verse 5.
Verse 8: David's Reward for Taking Zion
8. FOR DAVID HAD PROPOSED ON THAT DAY A REWARD FOR WHOEVER WOULD STRIKE THE JEBUSITE AND TOUCH THE WATERSPOUTS OF THE ROOFS, that is, the tiles or channels of the roofs through which water flowed from the rooftops down to the ground, as if to say: David proposed a reward for whoever first seized the tops of the walls and channels of Zion, and leaping over them entered the citadel. The reward was that he would become the commander and chief of David's army. Joab did this, and therefore although he deserved to be deprived of this command because of the murder of Abner, nevertheless because he overcame the citadel of Zion -- namely because he was the first to climb into it, not by a cedar tree cut down by the Hebrews for this purpose, as the Hebrews foolishly claim, but by scaling ladders placed against the citadel -- he deserved to be confirmed by David in this command of his, as is clear from 1 Chronicles 11:6. For when ladders were placed against the citadel on all sides by the Hebrews, and many were striving to climb over them onto the walls, Joab surpassed them all and was the first to ascend the walls, so that by this act of valor and victory he might erase the mark of the crime of having killed Abner, and he slew the Jebusite guardians of the citadel to the last man, except for the one Araunah, who was a great friend of the Jews, says Josephus. For this man sold David the threshing floor on Mount Zion, for building the temple there, about which see chapter 24.
AND HAD TAKEN AWAY THE BLIND AND THE LAME WHO HATED DAVID'S SOUL. From this it is clear that real blind and lame men, Jebusite soldiers, had been placed on the walls of Zion, whom David through Joab took away, and, as the Roman Septuagint says, killed with a dagger. Marcion objected that Christ was not the son of David, or certainly was degenerate from him, because David had killed the blind and lame whom Christ healed. Tertullian responds, book IV Against Marcion, chapter 36, that David killed the Jebusite blind and lame "who hated David's soul;" but the blind and lame healed by Christ did not hate, but loved Christ, and were asking Him for sight. Therefore those blind and lame Jebusites who resisted David represented, says Angelomus, the Scribes and Pharisees, who spiritually were blind, because they did not recognize Christ, and lame, because they were slow and unfit for good works, whom therefore Christ rebuked and punished with eternal death, of whom He Himself says: "They are blind, and leaders of the blind," Matthew chapter 15, verse 14, and chapter 23, verse 13: "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven before men; for you do not enter, nor do you allow those entering to enter."
Mystically therefore, the blind and lame are unbelievers, heretics, and those of the faithful who live wickedly, who deny in their deeds what they profess to believe, and who limp in the way of God, trying now to serve and please God, now the world. These do not enter the heavenly temple. Therefore St. Paul, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 13, said: "Therefore lift up your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not go astray, but rather be healed." Let us therefore pray with the Psalmist to God, "that our steps may not be weakened," Psalm 17:37; "and that He may make our feet like those of deer," ibid. verse 34; "that we may run the way of God's commandments," Psalm 118:32. Wisely St. Ambrose, sermon 68: "Peter," he says, "is the rock upon which the Church is built, and therefore just as in the Church he contains the foundation of faith, so also in man he strengthens the foundations of the limbs, as he restored the ability to walk to the lame man, Acts 3:7; and so that the Christian may walk not trembling and weak, but robust and strong upon the rock of the Church."
THEREFORE IT IS SAID AS A PROVERB: THE BLIND AND THE LAME SHALL NOT ENTER THE TEMPLE. In Hebrew, the house; which Salianus and others take to mean the house, or palace of David; Vatablus takes it as the citadel of Zion, as if to say: Because the blind and lame Jebusites resisted David in the citadel of Zion and mocked him, David therefore decreed and imposed this penalty on them, that none of them would henceforth enter the citadel of Zion and his house situated in the citadel. But our translator and the Septuagint understand the house of God, that is, the temple. Moreover, blind and lame Hebrews could enter the old temple; for Christ healed them in it, Matthew chapter 21, verse 14. David therefore barred and prohibited from entry to the temple not Hebrews, but the Jebusite blind and lame who had mocked him, as if to say: You Jebusites, blind and lame, arrogantly insulted David, saying that he could not occupy the citadel of Zion; therefore, having occupied it, he turns this taunt back on you as a fitting punishment, and decrees that none of you shall enter the citadel of Zion, and much less the tabernacle or temple built on Mount Zion; therefore your mockery passed into a proverb, so that when people see someone paying the deserved penalty for his foolish boasting, and that penalty being turned back on the boaster's own head, they say: "The blind and the lame shall not enter the temple," as if to say: This braggart has lost the gift he was arrogantly displaying, and has been stripped of it as a punishment for his boasting. The same thing, however, is said literally of priests, who, if they were blind or lame, were excluded from the ministry of the temple, Leviticus chapter 21, verse 18.
Others think this proverb is said about something impossible, so that when someone attempts something impossible, it is said to him: "The blind and the lame shall not enter the temple," as if to say: You are attempting an impossible thing and striving to make it possible, but in vain. This was the first act of David's kingdom over all Israel, namely the occupation of Zion and the transfer of the royal throne from Hebron to Zion and Jerusalem. For God willed to establish there the capital of the kingdom and the synagogue, because Christ, the antitype of David, was to preach in that same city and establish the Church, and there begin His spiritual kingdom, according to Isaiah chapter 2, verse 3: "From Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." For the Church is Zion, that is, a watchtower, because through faith it contemplates God on earth, and through the beatific vision it will contemplate the same God in heaven. And chapter 62, verse 1: "For Zion's sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteous one goes forth as brightness, and her Savior is kindled as a lamp."
Verse 9: He Built Round About from Millo
9. AND HE BUILT ROUND ABOUT FROM MILLO. Concerning Millo and the site and structure of all Jerusalem, see Adrichomius, Arias, and Villalpandus, book II On the Temple, chapter 2, in the Apparatus: the overseer of this building was Joab, 1 Chronicles 11.
Moreover, the Chaldean, Song of Songs chapter 7, verse 4, translates: He built the citadel of Zion, which is called Migdala de-Libnan, that is, the tower of Lebanon, because everyone who stands in it can count all the towers that are in Damascus. Better still, the same author at chapter 4, verse 15, says that Jerusalem itself is called Lebanon.
MILLO. In Hebrew this means the same as fullness; whence the Hebrews understand "Millo" as the place of assembly, because the people gathered there to deliberate on matters to be dealt with. Others understand it as the rampart that surrounded the citadel. Others think it was a ditch around the citadel, called Millo because it was filled with water. Others think "Millo" was the summit or peak of Mount Zion. But I say with Josephus, Villalpandus, Salianus, Sanchez, Richardus, Adrichomius, and other chorographers: "Millo" was a chasm and a very deep and wide valley, which separated Mount Zion from the lower city, and extended from the Water Gate westward to the Fish Gate. From this chasm David built up and fortified Mount Zion round about. Solomon leveled out this concavity to make a convenient plaza (whence it is also called the plaza of the Water Gate), and adorned it with buildings; which, having collapsed, were restored by Hezekiah. Here Joash, king of Judah, was killed by his own servants on the descent of Sela; in Josephus's time this valley was called Tyropoeon, into which, as he writes, very numerous houses opened, and it was very wide and most densely inhabited; but now the chasm itself is entirely filled up, though traces of the earlier concavity remain, and therefore it was called Millo, that is, fullness, because it had been filled with rubble, stones, and houses. Here for this book was written after the construction of Zion and the temple, when "Millo" was already "Millo," that is, full.
Verse 13: And Concubines
13. AND CONCUBINES. The concubines were not harlots and mistresses, but secondary wives, being of lower rank and status, as I have already frequently noted. Therefore the sons of these women are not counted in 1 Chronicles chapter 3, verse 9.
Moreover, in 1 Chronicles 3:6 and 8, Elisama, one of David's sons, is repeated and listed twice, because David had two sons to whom he gave the same name Elisama, or because, when the first died, he gave the same name to the later one, says Vatablus.
Verse 17: The Philistines Heard David Was King
17. AND THE PHILISTINES HEARD THAT THEY HAD ANOINTED DAVID KING OVER ISRAEL, AND THEY ALL WENT UP TO SEEK DAVID, to overwhelm him at the beginning of his reign while he was still weak and practically unarmed, lest when his forces were increased and his kingdom confirmed, they should be overwhelmed by him, as they had been overwhelmed by him when Goliath was slain, 1 Kings 17 and following. Whence David, seeing himself surrounded by enemies, took refuge in God, and composed Psalm 2: "Why do the nations rage," etc., where he describes literally the conspiracy of the Philistines against himself, allegorically the conspiracy of the Jews and Gentiles against Christ and the Apostles, and his own and Christ's victory over them.
WHEN DAVID HEARD THIS HE WENT DOWN TO THE STRONGHOLD, that is, a fortified place. So the Septuagint, namely to the citadel, as the Chaldean and Vatablus translate, that is, to the citadel of Zion; for this was David's most fortified seat, near which his enemies the Philistines encamped in the neighboring valley called Rephaim. Thus our translator regularly takes "stronghold" to mean a citadel or fortified place. Or more likely this "stronghold" was a fortified citadel near the cave of Adullam, into which David used to withdraw when pursued by Saul. So Vatablus and Salianus.
Verse 18: The Valley of Rephaim
18. AND THE PHILISTINES CAME AND SPREAD OUT IN THE VALLEY OF REPHAIM. The valley, which lies adjacent to Jerusalem, was called "Rephaim," that is, Giants, from the Giants slain there by Joshua or someone else; the Septuagint translates, in the valley of the Titans, that is, of the Giants. For they allude to the fable of the Titans, which the poets borrowed from the Giants, Genesis 6. For they imagine that these Giants were men of enormous size and supreme arrogance, who warred against Jupiter, and were therefore struck down by his thunderbolt.
Verse 20: The Lord Has Divided My Enemies
20. THE LORD HAS DIVIDED MY ENEMIES AS WATERS ARE DIVIDED (scattered) (from a broken vessel, or streams drawn off from a torrent into various ditches). THEREFORE THE NAME OF THAT PLACE WAS CALLED BAAL-PERAZIM, that is, having a breach or rupture, as if to say: Valley of breaches, or plain of divisions. So the Chaldean and others, where God divided and scattered the Philistines through the arms and soldiers of David. Isaiah mentions this valley of division in chapter 28, verse 21.
Verse 21: They Left Their Graven Images
21. AND THEY LEFT THEIR GRAVEN IMAGES THERE (idols, or household gods, and their Penates or tutelary gods), WHICH DAVID TOOK, and burned, as the Chaldean adds, and this is explicitly stated in 1 Chronicles 14:12. For the law of Deuteronomy 7:25 commanded idols to be burned. David repaid the Philistines in kind: for they in 1 Kings 5:2 had captured the ark of the covenant and dedicated it to their god Dagon.
Verse 23: Go Around Behind Them
23. GO AROUND BEHIND THEM, AND COME UPON THEM OPPOSITE THE BALSAM TREES. In Hebrew bechaim, which Aquila and our translator render "pear trees;" Pagninus and Vatablus translate, mulberry trees, which when they drip the moisture with which they swell, seem to weep; the Chaldean, trees; the Septuagint, klauthmonos, that is, of weeping and lamentation, from the root bacha, that is, he wept, he cried; whence Josephus, book VII of Antiquities, chapter 4, calls this place "the wood of weeping;" which the Hebrews cited by St. Jerome explain as meaning this place was called the place of lamentation because in it the Philistines bewailed their own slaughter and the destruction of their idols; idols therefore are the cause of all misery and weeping for their worshippers, says Angelomus. And they add that David burst into the camp of the Philistines at the very place where their idols were, in which the Philistines placed their greatest confidence; therefore, with these immediately destroyed, he easily destroyed the rest of the camp. Others think the Philistine idols were called "weeping" because they could only be sacrificed to with tears; others, because those trees have a sympathy with eyes and tears; for they drip a liquid like tears, whence they are said to weep.
Moreover, Clauthmon was the name of a place called from weeping, as St. Jerome, Eusebius, Adrichomius in Hebrew Places, and others everywhere teach: this place was near Jerusalem in the valley of Rephaim to the west, or, as St. Jerome says, to the north. Whence this seems to be the "place of Weepers," about which see Judges 2:1; for there the Septuagint translates klauthmon; see what was said there.
Verse 24: The Sound of Marching in the Balsam Trees
24. AND WHEN YOU HEAR THE SOUND OF MARCHING IN THE TOPS OF THE BALSAM TREES, THEN YOU SHALL BEGIN BATTLE: BECAUSE THEN THE LORD WILL GO OUT BEFORE YOUR FACE. By this marching, first, Josephus and Theodoret understand the agitation of the trees themselves at their tops, when no wind was blowing. Second, the Hebrews cited by St. Jerome understand the crushing and destruction of idols by Angels. Third and genuinely: Angels, as God's emissaries and commanders of battle, stirred up a certain crashing noise in the tops of the trees, as if they had advanced and marched through them to battle, about to fight with David against the Philistines, so that the Philistines would be terrified when they heard so many and such great enemies threatening them from the front, and noticed David pressing from behind; whence the Chaldean translates: When you hear the sound of a battle cry in the tops of the trees, then you shall be strengthened; because then the Angel of the Lord will go out to prosper before you, to strike the camp of the Philistines.
See here the wonderful help and protection of God invoked by David in battle: for God, fighting for His David, willed that the Philistines should be trapped, on one side by the balsam grove, on the other by David's army, so that terrified by the noise of the Angels, who, as if marching armed against the Philistines, produced it in the balsam trees, as if a powerful enemy force were invading them, they would flee in panic and fall into David's hands, and there be cut down partly by him, partly by David's guardian Angels. So Abulensis and others. But why did God give this sign through the sound of balsam trees, rather than almond, cherry, fig trees, etc.? I answer first, because near Jerusalem in the valley of Rephaim there was an abundance of balsam trees, so much so that this grove was called the valley of the balsam tree, according to Adrichomius in his Description of Jerusalem, number 238. So Lyranus. Second, because balsam trees are taller than fig, cherry, and almond trees, etc., and therefore were more fitting for Angels, who descended from the lofty heavens into the balsam trees to stir up a lofty and heavenly commotion in them, by which the Philistines would be terrified, thinking that Angels were fighting against them from heaven. Third, because the pear is masculine, and of a masculine flavor, so that the apple seems to be the female; whence it represents those who are masculine in spirit and virtue, such as Angels and Apostles. Fourth, because the pear tree is called quasi pyra, because it renders the likeness of a flame, tapering from wide to narrow, says Sipontinus. Thus Angels and Apostles are fiery, according to that text: "Who makes His Angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire," Psalm 103, verse 4, Hebrews 1. Fifth, in pears there is a property of wine, says Pliny, book XIV, chapter 14, especially in the Falernian variety so called from drinking, since so great a force of juice abounds. Thus the Apostles, having received the Holy Spirit, seemed full of new wine, Acts 2, just like the Angels. Sixth, pears are dense, and therefore heavy, so that some are said to weigh a pound. Besides, there are many species of pears. Finally, "the late ones hang until winter, ripening in the frost until March, Greek, ampullaceous, laurel," says Pliny; thus Angels are weighty, varied, and enduring, indeed eternal.
In a similar way, Angels fought from on high against Pharaoh for Moses, Exodus 14:24, and against the Canaanites for Joshua, chapter 10, verse 14, and for Barak against Sisera, Judges 5:20, and for Judas Maccabaeus against Lysias, 2 Maccabees 11:8.
Tropologically, Angelomus: "By the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees," he says, "is signified the coming of the Lord upon the heights of the Prophets and Apostles, striding over them by the power of His divinity, just as it is written in the Song of Songs chapter 2: Behold He comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. The tops of the balsam trees signify the summits of trees. What are understood by trees if not the lofty Fathers? When in their tops a sound is heard, that is, when in the sublimity of life the sound of preaching thunders forth as the Holy Spirit blows, our David, by the power of His divinity, by which He transcends the loftiness of the Saints, has overcome the Philistines, that is, the unclean spirits."
Verse 25: He Struck Them From Gibeah
25. HE STRUCK THEM FROM GIBEAH, which elsewhere is called Gibeon, or certainly Gibeah was near Gibeon.
UNTIL YOU COME TO GEZER, which was a city of the Philistines, says Josephus, and is clear from 3 Kings 9.